Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. Startup life. How hard could it be? You set direction.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2013

I was never into spicy foods growing up but after living in the UK for nearly a decade and having so much great Indian food around me all of the time I developed more of a taste for it. Turns out it is a family-owned business started by a refugee from Vietnam and named after a small village in Thailand Si Racha.

Entrepreneur 415

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Product 415

Berkonomics

AUGUST 8, 2024

How to define “success” for a startup? After speaking with many entrepreneurs over the years, each defines success in his or her unique way. To others, it is simply a way to express a talent for art, cooking, consulting, management, development or more. Everyone has a vision when starting a business.

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Startup Entrepreneur Course Capital 317

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. “There’s something going on in LA.” LA By The Numbers.

Entrepreneur 378

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 378

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

You took the risk to start your company. ” Your peer group is envious of your finally doing what they’ve always wanted to do but found it too hard to give up the golden paycheck and predictable future. So as a startup CEO you constantly have to suspend disbelief. I do believe in total transparency with your core.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2013

I recently wrote a post about how to manage relationships when you’re at a startup or are busy executive. I had images in my brain of all of the stresses I had placed on my wife in the heyday of my startups. A spouse’s hints for surviving an incredibly busy start-up person. Help encourage him not to.

Tips 418

Tips Startup Email Blogging 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2013

Like most startup entrepreneurs, when I began my first company in 1999 I had no formal sales experience. This is a very important to do when you first start a company. Steve Blank calls this “ customer development ” in which you built an initial product that is in search of “product / market fit.” Compelling Event.

Sales 393

Sales Startup Resource Customer 393

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The Los Angeles-based app development shop, V/One , is giving away 50,000 free mobile app builds through the rest of April as the company officially launches its platform for would-be, LA-based mobile app moguls. Since its soft launch, December 20th of last year, the app development company has built over 100 new applications.

Mobile 250

Mobile Develop Development Artificial Inteligence 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars. Start today building a bigger network. Success requires a great amount of hard work.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Software Review 149

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

One of my favorite entrepreneur-Twitterer weighed in, “You want to keep tapping into their collective intelligence so you keep saying ‘Thank you for the feedback’ and they keep sending it,” Ms. I’ll give Sam Altman the last quote from the article , YCombinator also warns young entrepreneurs about taking on too much, too fast. “We

Angel 323

Angel Startup Seed Funding Invest 323

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need. We like software.

Startup 404

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 404

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Founded by Steve Poizner last year to accelerate the growth of a startup entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California, The Alliance is building a network of investors, entrepreneurs and universities to provide ballast in the south to the dominance of the Northern California tech industry.

Southern California 225

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2020

Thus smart business professionals are rapidly becoming the new entrepreneurs. As a mentor to startups, I see more startups that are really an individual professional, marketing themselves as a consultant or freelancer in this new gig economy. Software Development Professional. Staffing Professional. Sales Professional.

Startup 164

Startup Social Media Course Entrepreneur 164

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. Andrew & Petri posed a question to me, “If Walt Disney were starting his company today, what kind of company would he build? But I’m guessing the narrative is similar elsewhere.

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Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

2023 hasn't been an easy year to be a startup. While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Verifying Looking for regular tech news straight to your inbox?

Startup 194

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 194

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2015

” And yet we entrepreneurs who will sign up for the journey accept that failure is a possibility and the true entrepreneurs know that they must stick with the ship even if it’s sinking. First time entrepreneurs can fall prey to hubris. But markets don’t generally love failure. Yet failure smells.

Startup 378

Startup Entrepreneur .Net Venture Capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

In my many years of experience in business, and recent work as a mentor to entrepreneurs, I have seen the business world change, and can relate well to his five success practices paraphrased here: Build the team from people with a shared obsession. For team members, the ongoing challenge is figuring out what not to do. Marty Zwilling.

Class 155

Class Develop Development Startup 155

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

We started hanging out a bit and discussing technology and entrepreneurship. What Cham rarely tells people – he’s both private and humble – is that he started making some small co-investments with me in tech firms starting with Maker Studios where he was one of the earliest investors. Welcome to the family.

Conference 420

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 420

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2020

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. A successful startup needs to be a daily task, with consistent focus. Getting started is always a challenge.

Startup 173

Startup Writing Blogging Ideas 173

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you.

Technical Advisors 386

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 386

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. .” Who else does Clayton pray for?

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For investors life is no different.

Software Review 398

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 398

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Innovation is the key to long-term business success, both in startups as well as established organizations. Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. Elon Musk recommends this approach. Practice the one-sentence method.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Design 158

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Establishing your brand with interactive social media.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2020

Entrepreneurs inherently understand that they have to be the initial leader of their startup, but often they don’t have the experience or the training to know where their leadership competencies lie, or how to build a leadership team. Artists are perhaps the most creative and innovative leaders. Perfectionist.

Startup 173

Startup Entertainment Entrepreneur Coach 173

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

In an attempt to boost diversity and inclusion efforts and civic engagement between the growing technology industry in Los Angeles and the community that surrounds it, over 80 venture capitalists and entrepreneurs joined the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, and the non-profit Annenberg Foundation to announce PledgeLA. The landmark.

Los Angeles 249

Los Angeles Angel Entrepreneur Orange County 249

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined. It’s very frustrating.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. Today’s world of business is highly driven by social issues and environmental concerns.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Mentor Metrics Customer 168

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Early or embryonic stage.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

I recently returned from a 5-day visit to Ireland, my first time back in 10 years and the start of what I hope will be a more regular travel schedule there. Suddenly it was a hot ticket and many people started lobbying to get on the next year’s agenda. I thought by now he would have given up on me as a flake. It will not.

Conference 392

Conference Startup Web Truecar 392

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. And why I woke up at 4.50am. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur?

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. The continued growth of startup communities in Los Angeles. What are you most looking forward to in the technology/startup world in 2020?

Startup 196

Startup Thousand Oaks Mentor Ventura 196

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2021

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity. Developed a higher level of mental complexity. Find and enjoy the company of one or more mentors.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Invest 166